Julia
by Luna daughter of Hecate
Summary: Julia. She came to camp when she was 4 years old. She has no memory of her life before that. She's always known as 'that girl who works for Terminus', but she's 14 now, and she wants to know her godly parent. Secondly, she wants a quest. As her world is turned upside down. An old prophecy states that she will be a hero, but she will either be the downfall or the savior of Rome.
1. Chapter 1

Julia. That was her name. Since the age of four she had helped the statues of Terminus, confiscating weapons, moving rocks that were in the wrong place, and generally doing everything that involved hands, as Terminus had none. It was a fun job, at least when she was young.

She was 14 now, and she still didn't know her parentage.

She remembered when she was sent to camp.

Her four-year-old world had turned upside down.

She had turned four the day before, and she vaguely recalled monsters. She wanted her parents, she wanted to go home. But suddenly she couldn't remember her mom or her dad, or even her own house, only her name: Julia.

And Julia had no idea what was going on. She had been sent to Lupa, but what happened was curious, very curious.

The wolf goddess had taken one look at Julia, and (this Julia remembered clearly) said to her chaperone, an odd man who said nothing but just observed, "This one does not need training. When she is claimed, she will know. Take her to Camp Jupiter, and remember this: she will be the downfall or the savior of Rome someday, as she- she is more powerful than us all."

On that note, the silent chaperone took her to Camp Jupiter.

Julia remembered being put in front of the praetors, and how nervous she was. Something else odd happened: she found a letter in her pocket. It certainly hadn't been there before. She confusedly handed it to the praetors.

They read it quickly, their expressions turning dark. Before she knew what was happening, she was being carted off to New Rome, and was placed with her new demigod foster parents. She recalled her first glimpse of Terminus, and how exciting he was: a talking statue! She squealed with joy, and her new foster parents decided to let her work for him.

She was 14. And she wanted to see the world.

All her life, well, as long as she could remember, she had been trapped in New Rome, working for a statue. She didn't need to work for the legion, as she- she was a special case.

She had lived through the Second Titan War and the Second Giant War. She had seen battles, heck, she had almost been murdered once by a giant. It wasn't like life in Rome was boring, but it was... well, it actually was boring, at least now.

Wake up, go to school, conjugate Latin verbs, have lunch, go to Terminus, confiscate weapons, move inanimate objects, go home, sleep. She didn't have any friends to hang out with, as she was known as 'the Terminus girl' or 'that girl who works for that statue'.

Julia wanted two things:

A quest,

And a claiming.


	2. Chapter 2

Julia Chapter 2

"Julia, wake _up_! You'll miss school!"

Julia sighed at the sound of Helen's voice. She refused to think of Helen as 'mom'. She was her foster mother, end of story.

The 14-year-old groaned and reluctantly clambered out of bed. She luckily had the whole attic to herself as her room, and she relished the extra space. She staggered over to the mirror, glancing at it casually. She checked the top of her head night and day, as if a sign would appear there somehow. She didn't see anything, as usual.

She grabbed a hairbrush from her desk and started brushing her boring, dark brown hair. It was long and wavy, and shimmered in the dull yellow light of the attic. Her eyes were boring black. They creepily sometimes looked like voids. The only thing she liked about herself was her skin. It was smooth and pale, like a vampire's, or a ghost's. She grinned cheekily at herself and started to change into her clothes for the day.

She trotted down the stairs to get breakfast, just an apple. She stuffed her notebooks, pencils and Latin textbooks into her backpack, which was uniform purple.

Julia yelled a quick goodbye to her mom and ran out the door, and into New Rome.

It really was quite pretty; white buildings with red tiling, small children running amok, the smell of fresh bread rising from the bakery. She waved to the tailor who was just setting up shop for the day. She wove her way through the streets, stopping at the University of New Rome. She took all of her classes there, with a private teacher, as all of the other people her age were working for the legion. She missed all of her old friends. Luckily sometimes they bothered to visit her, but not really often.

Her old best friend was Mandy Lawson, who was a legacy of Venus. She was pretty and kind, but was extremely oblivious and sometimes vain. She had gone to the legion a couple of years ago, complaining about her nails between hugs.

Julia didn't really miss her, but she wished she still had a friend.

The giant clock tower struck nine times. Julia was late, but she didn't care. She wanted to see the statue again.

The statue was made of bronze, which was unusual. All of the other Roman statues were made of marble or white stone. But this statue had been created after the Giant War.

It portrayed 6 heroes: Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson. There was also a list of names on a plaque at the bottom of the statue. The first name on the list was Frank Zhang. He had given his life to send Gaia to sleep. Apparently, a sacrifice meant a lot.

Names also on the list included: Reyna Robinson, who had died protecting Jason from a giant's spear, Gleeson Hedge, who had gone down fighting, Dakota Wren, who was killed by an enemy Cyclops, and countless other demigods, legacies and friends. Julia didn't know many of them personally, but she did know one name.

Xylios Ronsam, son of Mercury. He had been her best friend, when she was 6. He had been killed by that snivelling traitor of a Roman, Octavian. He was a ruthless, cruel-hearted son of a gorgon. He had been banished from the legion, but Julia knew he was still out there. Her fists clenched in anger, but she breathed in and, casting one last look at the plaque and the statue, headed towards the University of Rome.

She was soon caught up in the swirling crowds of university students. She was jostled, almost stepped on, and shoved by countless young adults, but she didn't mind. She spotted Hazel Levesque, looking lonely as usual, heading towards the geology classroom, and Piper McLean entering the lecture hall. Julia finally found her room, a cramped, small room with a couple of dusty desks and a single shelf stuffed with old books. Her teacher was waiting for her with a stern expression on her face. Julia slipped her backpack off of her shoulders and looked up.

"Good morning Mrs Jackson!"

"Oh, Julia, you don't have to call me that!" Annabeth Chase-Jackson huffed. Her blonde hair shone as the early morning sunlight filtered through the dirty window.

"Okay, Mrs Jackson," Julia teased, twirling her hair and looking at her teacher innocently.

Annabeth huffed again. "Okay, where were we..? Oh, yes. Turn to page 394 of you Latin textbook.."

The clock struck one. Julia's stomach rumbled and she grinned; school was over. Annabeth smiled and shooed her away. Julia knew she had to look after her daughter, who was 5, and was named Frankie Reyna. The kid had no powers.. yet... and when she wasn't throwing a tantrum (as most 5-year-olds do often), she was reading short books or swimming in the Tiber. Like parents, like daughter.

Julia strode out of the University and into New Rome. She made a beeline for her favorite cafe, Caesar's Palace. It was a casual place to eat lunch, and everyone, even heroes, ate there. She was surprised to find it almost empty; save for a couple of parents with their kids. She squinted; it was Percy Jackson with Frankie! She waved at then before she sat down at a table for one. The waiter, Bobby Gonzalez, grinned at her before asking, "The usual?"

Julia nodded.

5 minutes later, a steaming hot croissant arrived on her table, accompanied by some cream of tomato soup. She ate slowly, procrastinating. She didn't want to go to Terminus. Sure, her job had been fun when she was 6, but not now. She was 14, for Jupiter's sake!

She was almost done when Percy Jackson got out of his seat abruptly. He was staring at a spot right above her head. Was it a sign? _A claiming?_

Frankie giggled as 5-year-olds do. "Dadda, what's that? Dadda? Dadda? Why there a face on top of Juwia's head?"

_There's a face on top of my head?_ Julia thought, alarmed.

Then, the 'face' started talking.

**_"Daughter of Ouranos, remember what was prophesied._**

**_You will either be the saviour, or the downfall of Rome._**

**_Journey to the home of the Primordials._**

**_Find what was taken- your powers were stolen from you when you were young._**

**_But heed my warning: Do not experiment. You could destroy your whole world._**

**_Julia, find your powers. Go to the Oracle. Hear your fate."_**

Julia and Percy stood there, terrified, awestruck, while Frankie asked millions of questions and jumped around. A daughter of Ouranos?

Julia wasn't Roman. She wasn't even a _demigod_. As far as she remembered, Ouranous, Uranus or Caelus was the Primordial Being, or Protegonos, of the sky. She was a _demi-protegenos_? Did that even make sense?

Well, demigod or demi-protegonos, Roman or Greek, things just got a lot more complicated.


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed an/or favorited and/or followed! You guys rock!**

Percy stood there, open-mouthed as Julia did the only thing she could at the moment: she ran to the bathroom, eyes wide.

Pushing the door labeled _Feminae_ open, she rushed inside and checked her reflection in the mirror.

There was _still _a face on top of her head. It was a handsome, masculine face, with windswept dark brown hair, and the eyes- they were pure black, like hers. She watched it for a while, wishing it away, when suddenly it spoke six words:

"Find your powers. Don't underestimate yourself."

Then the face transformed into a giant bronze dome for a split second before it shimmered and disappeared.

The weight of what just happened descended upon Julia when the face had gone. It was here only link to here past, her parents. She could destroy the world if she wanted to- if she ever got her 'powers' back. She did not know how to fight, as she had been babied since forever, and she didn't even have a weapon. She supposedly had to go on a quest to 'the home of the Primordials' to find her powers, that supposedly were extremely dangerous. She had also been instructed to go the the Oracle- not the augur- which made her think of the Greek camp, Camp Half-Blood.

_Argh!_ She shouted inside her head. The stress of her whole situation was getting to her.

But the face- who she was starting to think was her father- had told her not to underestimate herself.

Her mascara was running. She hadn't realized that she was crying. She grabbed a paper towel and wiped her face. She mentally prepared herself. No one is going to know about this. Only me, Percy and Frankie. They don't have to know. Being unclaimed forever is so much better than- than this.

She staggered out of the bathroom and back into Caesar's Palace. She was definitely in for a shock when she discovered the current Praetor, Jason Grace, deep in conversation with Percy. Percy was usually Praetor, but he was taking a few years off for Frankie. Along with Jason, Hazel Levesque and Piper McLean were also gathered next to the men. As Julia watched, Annabeth rushed into the cafe.

Percy was describing something, pointing at his head. His eyes were wide and scared, while Jason, Hazel and Piper looked plain gobsmacked.

Julia gulped and headed towards them.

Hazel saw her first. She turned to face Julia, her mouth wide open.

"So- it- it's true? You- you're really a- a daughter of.. Ouranos?" she stuttered.

Julia winced at Hazel's careful tone. She wasn't a freaking time-bomb! But she nodded slowly.

The daughter of Pluto's luminescent golden eyes widened in dismay.

"S-so, Percy's told me something about- about a prophecy?" Piper stammered, blinking incredulously. Julia grimaced.

"Um.. well... I remember one thing from when I was really little," she admitted. Percy nodded, motioning for her to go on.

"I don't remember my past, at least I don't remember up till when I was four. There were monsters, and maybe a family, but it's hazy. I can't picture a face or focus on a single memory."

Percy and Jason sighed. They knew what it was like to have hazy memories.

"But I do recall when I was taken to Lupa. It was- it was weird. She took one look at me.. and she said that I didn't need training, and..." she paused. It was hard to say it.

"She said that it was prophesied, that I would either be the savior, or the downfall of Rome."

The other demigods' faces varied: Piper looked scared, Jason and Percy looked worried, Hazel seemed downright shocked, while Annabeth looked as if she was beginning to figure something out.

"And," Julia continued, nervously twirling a strand of dark brown hair, "The face on the top of my head said that I had to go to the home of the Primordials, whatever that means, and I have to find my powers, which were stolen from me, and I have to go to the Oracle."

Annabeth grinned. "The Oracle." She nudged Percy. "We can go see Rachel!"

Julia understood. Rachel Dare was the current Oracle of Delphi, a mere mortal. She lived at Camp Half-Blood.

Jason was about to say something, but at that moment, Nico di Angelo materialized right in front of Julia in a column of shadows.

"Hey, guys," he said casually, disregarding Julia's shocked eyes. She had jumped backwards a few feet when the son of Hades appeared right in front of her. "Did I miss anything?"

Nico di Angelo was strange. Julia had seen him a few times when he visited Rome. He was 21 years old, a few years younger than most of the heroes, but he was the same age as Hazel, though he looked and acted so much older. He had been captured by Gaia during the second Giant War, and his eyes were haunted as if he was still seeing the visions Gaia would show to him. He would never go into detail about those.

As Percy and Jason explained everything to Nico, Piper and Hazel started whispering in hushed tones. Julia twiddled her thumbs. She didn't have much to do except stand there. She wanted to _do_ something. Annabeth was distracted by the task of catching Frankie, who was racing around the cafe, shrieking with glee, contrasting with the serious tones everyone was talking Annabeth had Frankie scooped up safely in her arms.

"Right," Percy declared. "We need a plan." Annabeth grinned. That was what she was good at. They started to discuss where the 'home of the Primordials' could be, but Julia had other plans.

"So, we're going to Camp Half-Blood first to find the Oracle, right?" she interrupted.

Annabeth stared at her, gray eyes unfocused, until she said, "You're right. We can form a plan from there."

"How are we going to get there, though?" Julia asked. "It's on the other side of the country!"

Nico huffed. 'I've been practicing this! Everyone put their hand on my arm."

They all did so. Percy and Annabeth knew what he was going to do, but Julia had no freaking idea.

Nico's face screwed up in concentration, and everyone was enveloped in darkness.

**AN: Ooooh... group shadow-travelling! I wonder what's going to happen next. R+R!**


	4. Chapter 4

Early morning sunlight streamed through the dirty window. A young girl, about four years old, with dark brown hair, slept peacefully in her bed, decorated with birds and clouds. The walls were pale blue and white, and the mahogany door was shut.

Julia didn't understand. Wasn't she supposed to be in Camp Half-Blood? She started to walk around but stopped. She looked for her legs. She waved her hand in front of her face. Nothing. She was invisible.

The small girl yawned in her sleep and turned over. There were footsteps outside the door, and a woman rushed in, her troubled face contrasting with the calm atmosphere in the room.

The woman was beautiful, with shining auburn hair and twinkling green eyes, but her face was marred with one pale scar on her forehead. It looked old and healed.

Suddenly, Julia heard a deafening roar. She understood why the woman was so terrified.

It was a monster.

Without warning, a gigantic lion shattered the door and crept through it, and the woman screamed. The child woke up and started to cry. Her eyes were pure black. No, seriously. The eyes were actually jet black, no white to be seen.

The girl's cries were getting louder as her mother (Julia presumed it was her mother) slowly picked up a jagged board from the ruined door. But the lion roared again, so loud that the woman dropped the feeble piece of wood.

Then the weirdest thing of all happened. The discarded board rose up, to the top of the lion's head. It bonked it on the head, a minor discomfort for the lion. Its eyes followed the floating wood, desperate to catch it. The wood floated out of the door and the lion pelted away, eager to play fetch.

"Siwwy kitty!" the child laughed, clapping her tiny hands. The woman sighed in relief, but yet another roar was heard, and the woman scooped the girl up and opened the window, dropping out of it.

Julia followed.

The two ran across a field behind the house, daring to look back. The house was slowly being demolished by the odd lion. _There goes the chimney. There go the windows._

Finally the two reached the forest at the end of the field. There, waiting, were two gigantic wolves with fierce but warm golden eyes.

The woman shrieked again, but then a man stepped out of the trees.

Julia would have gasped, if she could have. It was her silent chaperone, the man who took her to Rome.

She squinted at the girl. Her brown hair... It resembled Julia's own hair so much..

_Wait. That girl- she- she's _me_._

But they were interrupted by a Chimaera running towards them, part goat, part snake, part lion. It roared, hissed and bleated, and fire burst out from the goat's head, right towards the little girl- Julia's younger self.

Everything went into slow-motion, like in the movies, but this was real. The girl's mother, green eyes flashing furiously, took a flying leap towards the Chimaera, blocking the fire from her daughter. Her body was illuminated for a moment, silhouetted against the white flames, before it crashed to the ground, smoking slightly, definitely dead.

The girl started to cry, but her pitch black eyes narrowed. The chimaera went flying. Everything went white, and the last thing she saw was lightning flashing above her head and coming down to greet her...

And Julia woke up with a sword and shield in her hands, then promptly collapsed.

She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, and sat up. She was in a bed, in a wooden room. There were other beds there, most unoccupied. A person whose head was wrapped in bandages slept tranquilly 2 beds away from her. There was a tastefully carved wooden bedside table next to her, and on it lay a sword and a shield. She gasped and remembered what had happened- she had a flashback, she saw her mom.. die in front of her.

The sword was unremarkable, about 2 feet long, made of Celestial Bronze, with a small circular black stone set in the hilt. But the shield was weird.

It was circular, but it was basically a ring. There was nothing in the middle of it, so it technically wasn't even a shield. The outsides were decorated with odd symbols and pictures.

Julia reached her hand out to grab it. She tried putting her hand through the middle, but a strange force made it impossible. She took her sword and tried to put that through the hole in the shield, but it seemed impenetrable. Interesting...

So it was a shield, but the middle was invisible. Okay.. Julia set it aside again and wondered where everyone else was. Where were Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Piper, Jason and Nico? The sun was setting through the window, so Julia decided to get up and find them.

On slightly wobbly legs, she got up and pushed the door open, casting a look back at the bandaged person sleeping. Then she walked out into Camp Half-Blood.


End file.
